Saint Joseph Remembered

Every March 19, the Church celebrates the Solemnity of St. Joseph, foster father of Jesus and husband of Mary.  Sacred Scripture describes Joseph as  “ a just man”, a meaningful phrase which sums up all his good qualities and virtues.  Msgr. Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer of the Opus Dei gives us this portrait:  “He is an ordinary man, a family man, a worker who earned his living with his hands.”

Considered the greatest saint after Mary, Joseph nevertheless does not come across as a figure who is dramatically conspicuous.  While God entrusted to him the task of taking care of the two greatest treasures on earth-----Jesus and Mary-----Joseph strikes one as a humble and silent worker.

In the unassuming but dependable figure of Joseph, many people, especially the working man, can find an excellent model.  The following excerpts from the book “Joseph of Nazareth” by Federico Suarez should enlighten us as we honor St. Joseph on March 19:

The majority of mankind can look on Joseph as an exemplar, perhaps precisely because our lives do not seem to surpass the most common general standards of ordinariness.

The figure of Joseph, then, is an incentive God has given us to stir up our hope. For if we are not going to be anything other than ordinary men, with nothing special to distinguish us from the rest…we can still aspire to something a million miles from mediocrity. We may have felt destined to such insignificance because we lacked exceptional abilities. Fortunately for us, God uses a very different yardstick from the one we men are accustomed to. It is not a matter of talent and aptitudes outside of the ordinary, but of making the best of what abilities we have been endowed with…

It is sufficient merely to carry out the little, commonplace, almost banal duties of each day with love and humility, and with the intention of pleasing God…

To sum up, we recall that “no man is worthless to God. All of us are called to share in the kingdom of heaven - each with his own vocation: in his home, his work, his civic duties and the exercise of his rights” (Msgr. Escriva). And it is Joseph, the last of the patriarchs, who shows us how, in following this way, any one of us can come to be a great saint.

The Second Coming of Christ will take place in your lifetime. According to this book which contains a series of incredible messages and prophecies to an Irish seer, our present generation will witness the Second Coming of Christ. Click here to read a book review that summarises the key messages of the book.

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